SOCIAL CAPITAL AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE IN POST-PANDEMIC LOCAL ECONOMIES

Abstract

Background: Recovery is partly an economic process and partly a relational one. Communities with functioning networks can circulate information, extend informal support and coordinate collective action more quickly, yet strong internal ties can also exclude outsiders when bridging links are weak. Aims: This article examines the mechanisms that connect the topic to organizational or policy performance and identifies the conditions that make those mechanisms stronger or weaker. Research Method: A structured narrative review integrates peer-reviewed research with authoritative policy, statistical, and professional sources, including OECD (2024c); World Bank (2025). Sources are coded by outcome, mechanism, boundary condition, and practical implication. Results and Conclusion: The synthesis indicates that outcomes are heterogeneous. Social capital should not be romanticized. Trust can lower transaction costs, but closed networks may reproduce inequality, discourage new ideas or leave vulnerable groups outside the relationships through which opportunities are distributed. Six recurring themes show that implementation quality, information, capability, and institutional context frequently matter as much as the headline policy or technology. Contribution: The article offers an evidence-based framework for local communities, small businesses and civic organizations that translates the literature into decision principles without claiming primary data that were not collected.